Dark Messiah - Patch 1.02 Fixlists

Ubisoft released the fixlists for the upcoming patches 1.02 for Dark Messiah - first for single player:

Patch 1.02 changes and bug fixes

Combat Difficulty has been raised for "Hard" mode

Added a new "Hardcore" difficulty mode

Re balanced NPCs strength & health on the second half of the game for all difficulty modes

Added an intermediary "Texture" setting between "Medium" & "High". "High" could create an overload with some video card memory, so to offer more scalability, it has been renamed to "Very High" and the "High" option now offer "Medium" textures for the scenery but "High" textures for the NPCs.

No More Crash on NPCs behead (that happened with the “head_link” error message)

Fixed the black BINK playback problem with GeForce FX video cards

Fix FPS drops with GeForce 6800

No More graphical glitch on GeForce FX cards when player is under water

No More graphical glitch on GeForce FX cards when player is being hit or is almost dead

No More graphical glitch on GeForce FX cards equipping a Magic Weapon.

Saved Game system changed to the new Async System to prevent too much stuttering when the game is auto saving (if you’re still experience problem, you may want to disable the Auto Save feature in the “Gameplay” options menu)

GFX Option is now properly Saved

Avoid Rope Bow to disappear under the world surface before getting it

Fixed inconsistency with the way Xana behaves during “City of the Flames” chapter events depending on player’s choices

Fixed a bug where the giant spider was not spawned at all.

Fixed a bug with some potions being destroyed on map spawn in the “Temple of the Spider” chapter

GFX Detail level Option is now properly translated in the french version

Avoid user from being stuck in the walls while using the Rope Bow

Final Boss has been re-balanced

Removed some dev button that could be found behind some walls in the Epilogue

Fixed the way some objectives were badly managed with the Pao Kai in the last chapter

Removed an improper “use” flag on some wooden beams in “Gleam of a Cold Knife”

NPC immune to Telekinesis can&#39;t be grabbed using Telekinesis Spell when they are in ragdoll behavior

Arrows that are out of the Game world are now Removed properly to prevent Framerate to slowly decrease to zero

Max number of potions/food you can stack in your inventory is now properly checked

Avoid the Ghoul script to be broken in some cases if player used the bow to attack the creature in “Dead Man&#39;s Trail”

Remove small memory leak on the Particle System

Remove small memory leak on clear value

…and for Multiplayer:

Patch 1.02 changes and bug fixesNew Content New game mode
Capture The Flag
Significant optimisations for sounds, textures and particles on lower-specification hardware
New Map CTF_1
New Map CTF_2 CTF RULES Defend your team&#39;s flag while stealing the enemy flag.
You must have both flags at your own base to score.
Scoring a flag will give XP to all players on the scoring team.
Returning your own flag also gives personal XP.
Flags will not appear until there are players on both teams, and the &#39;battle begins&#39; timer has finished
Picking up a flag will slow you down, disables your weapon and briefly highlights you to the enemy team.
Pressing fire when holding a flag will drop it and allow you to fight (be careful not to pick the flag up again when fighting)
Dropped flags return to their base when touched by their team, or after 20 seconds. Optimisations
These can be found in the Options->Gameplay tab, and will generally require a restart of the game engine to use.
Character LOD values lower by default (can be returned to higher quality by users in config files)
Option to use alternative particles New high performance particles for all spell effects. Total particles reduced, &#39;distort&#39; effects removed, dynamic lights reduced. (This replaces the particle sliders)
Option to disable streamed sounds prevents sound being streamed from the hard drive during play. May improve framerates, but will disable some ambient noise.
Option to use lower quality texturemaps reduces load times and increases framerates for almost all users.
Option to force simplified texture surfaces (this disables Normal mapping and Specular mapping). Will speed up loading times, especially for low RAM users, but the visual quality is reduced. Map Changes MP1 Recompiled
spawn point error fixed
MP2 Recompiled
ambient sounds improved, framerate optimised, spawnpoint error fixed
MP3 Recompiled
framerate optimisations (detail models now fade earlier)
MP5 Portcullises at final Undead point now lock open for last flag. New route added to final quadrant. Ambient sounds optimised. Character Changes
Assassin Backstab improved
Assassin Triggered Poison Orbs Recharge time added, Mana cost added
Mage Lightning Orb no longer instant-fire, must be charged, will not hit behind caster when cast.
Mage Flame Arrow & Lightning Shock damage adjusted for maxed elemental alignments.
Mage FireBlast Projectile flight speed reduced
Priestess is now informed how many team-mates have been mass resurrected or healed
Warrior Leaping Attack fixed
Warrior Safeguard now defends only in an arc in front of the character (you will need to track lightning orbs/fireballs to be protected)
Warrior Safeguard now costs mana to create, and takes mana if it is hit by a spell. If mana is depleted, the Safeguard will fall.
Warrior Safeguard now emits a noise telling players it is active
Warrior shield no longer interferes with the movement model with when hit by an arrow Miscellaneous
Smoothed Spectator Cam
Game Timer now shown on main screen and it highlights when time is short.
Teamkill menu now available for 15 seconds after a teamkill

So sounds like after 6 weeks, there may now be upwards of a 10% chance that this steaming pile of code will actually be semi-playable (until it crashes) on my relatively high-end system that exceeds recommended system requirements in all respects.

First and last time I ever purchase a downloadable version of a game. Was under the mistaken impression that I could trust something that was pushed out under the umbrella of Valve/Steam.

Not blaming Arkane necessarily. I loved Arx Fatalis and am all too aware of how the development/publishing system works (or doesn't work) But regardless all involved parties are somewhat responsible for pushing out a game that is unplayable by half the people that bought it and allowing it to be represented that it was finished. And those peope include, to one extent or another the developer, the publisher, and Valve (who has likely done some serious damage to their street cred and future success of Steam as delivery system. I for one will never purchase another game using Steam and can't wait to delete every damn kilobyte of it from my harddrive.)

Don't blame Valve for this. I have the Collector's Edition on DVD and I still can't get past the tutorial before it crashes.

It is important to distinguish between games made by Valve and games being released by the use of Steam. Blaming Valve for this is no different than going down to your local store to complain about the bugs in Gothic 3 (it really isn't Valve's fault).

— "Chess in particular had always annoyed him. It was the dumb way the pawns went off and slaughtered their fellow pawns while the kings lounged about doing nothing that always got to him; if only the pawns united, maybe talked the rooks around, the whole board could've been a republic in a dozen moves."- Commander Vimes in Thud! by Terry Pratchett

I'm aware of the difference between the developer/producer and Valve. Nevertheless, Valve chose to offer and sell a product under its premiere service that was blatantly unready for release. Moreover, if i buy a piece o' crap from a store, I can return it. If I buy it through Steam, I'm stuck with it. If their going to sell unsupported/unfinished products through their service, it's a hit to their reputation/credibility and I see no reason to keep their system hogging software on my hardrive any longer.

Valve did'nt choose, Ubsoft bought the right to release on Steam.
Valve isn't involved at all on conditions of release for other Pubs using their service, its just a distribution deal not quality assurance.
Nor is Arkane involved in anything but development, which Ubsoft controls and the IP of M&M.
So Ubsoft test what Arkane creates and then tells Arkane what to fix and actually Ubsoft could release the game in any condition they wish, well assuming they don't violate some law.

Ha, this is the first time I have ever defended Steam, a system I do not even use.

Originally Posted by dagoo7
Moreover, if i buy a piece o' crap from a store, I can return it. If I buy it through Steam, I'm stuck with it.

I can see how that makes a difference. I didn't think of that because in my country the only way I can return a game to the store once the plastic wrapping has been broken is if there are physical defects (e.g. scratched or broken discs). I don't even think I'm entitled to a refund if I accidentally buy a PS2 or Xbox version of the game I wanted for the PC.

But Acleacius is right: As a distribution channel Valve has no more say (nor responsibility) in what is being distributed via Steam than your local EB Games or whatever it is called.

— "Chess in particular had always annoyed him. It was the dumb way the pawns went off and slaughtered their fellow pawns while the kings lounged about doing nothing that always got to him; if only the pawns united, maybe talked the rooks around, the whole board could've been a republic in a dozen moves."- Commander Vimes in Thud! by Terry Pratchett

I guess the only lesson to be learned here is that (at least with most US retailers return policies): If the market has evolved into such a broken state that noone is able to or feels the need to "be responsible" for the sale of a broken product and there is no responsibility (from either legal or reputational risk perspective) for the distributors of said product, then one should never buy a downloadable product. That's basically the conclusion I have come to and its really about download services in general.

The specificity of my ire w/ respect to Steam/Valve has mostly do with the fact that on my credit card statement the $50 I threw away has Steam listed on it. Also, because of my assumption (knowingly misguided on my part) that Valve would be exercising some quality control on products released via Steam. I was aware beforehand that there was no legal obligation on their part before making the purchase, but secretly hoped and justified the purchase by believing that they would be doing so out of concerns for reputational risk. That was clearly not the case, and although clearly my fault still gets me frustrated. Basically wrote off the $50, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised by the patch.

You know its really strange titles get shipped early for the holidays every year but for some reason this year seems like the worst, with the three AAA titles G3, DM and NWN2 all showing severe problems.

I guess you could sell it on Ebay or something though I don't really know if Steam actually gives you a image.